How to learn openings
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Sep 12, 2023
0
#2
First of all determine your chess personality. You can be a positional or tactical player. For positional the london, english, stonewall, colle system etc. For tacticians all sorts of gambits will be the best suit(the quintessence is the king’s gambit). Tell me how you mainly play with white and with black. If it’s easier for you, we can speak in russian
I would go with a combination of options 1 and 3. So basically follow the opening principles and study the basics of the most common openings. Then play, analyze, learn and find out which openings you like and which suit your playing style.
Then you can form an opening repertoire around the openings you like and start to little by little add to your knowledge about those openings.
I am not going to say the usual do not study openings thing, but I am going to say that you should not focus too much on the openings, because there are more important things to learn at novice/beginner level.
lassus_dinnao написал:
First of all determine your chess personality. You can be a positional or tactical player. For positional the london, english, stonewall, colle system etc. For tacticians all sorts of gambits will be the best suit(the quintessence is the king’s gambit). Tell me how you mainly play with white and with black. If it’s easier for you, we can speak in russian
I more or less know how to play the Italian game so far. So if the opponent plays according to it, I choose it for both white and black. In all other cases I try to play according to the opening principles (occupation of the center, development of light pieces, castling).
It's still hard for me to say what kind of play I gravitate towards. For now I just try to develop pieces so that they are maximally directed towards the opponent's castled king. I'm also trying to find forks, double attacks, and make pins, but so far I find them much worse in the game than in puzzles. I try to look for line mates first, as well as mates using a bishop-queen battery.
(I would continue in English so that the thread is useful for all forumers.)
Sep 12, 2023
0
#5
Then play e4 as white, e4 e5, d4 d5 as black.
Symmetrical openings give you easy-to play positions and easy-to-navigate middlegames. As you play these middlegames, you will see which play-style suits you the most. For example, the italian game. If you play Ng5, you are a tactitian. If you play d3, you are a positional player. I can give you some hints on how to play first moves.
White:
1.e4
Black plays:
1.e5
Try out all options: Nf3, bc4, nc3
From nf3, try out scotch(my main recommendation), italian, ponziani, spanish, four knights, halloween gambit, etc.
1.c5 Sicilian
Just learn the smith-morra or grand prix attack
1.e6 french
Play d4. Don’t play advanced variation. You’ll get crushed. Play the exchange and develop normally
1.c6 caro-kann
Play d4. Don’t play advanced variation. Exchange and develop normally.
1.d5 scandinavian
Take the pawn, attack the queen, develop, play d4
If they play Nf6 instead of taking with the queen, give the pawn away with d4 and attack the knight with c4 once it recaptures. Develop.
Against any other option just take the center and develop.
I’ll write about black a bit later
Symmetrical openings give you easy-to play positions and easy-to-navigate middlegames. As you play these middlegames, you will see which play-style suits you the most. For example, the italian game. If you play Ng5, you are a tactitian. If you play d3, you are a positional player. I can give you some hints on how to play first moves.
White:
1.e4
Black plays:
1.e5
Try out all options: Nf3, bc4, nc3
From nf3, try out scotch(my main recommendation), italian, ponziani, spanish, four knights, halloween gambit, etc.
1.c5 Sicilian
Just learn the smith-morra or grand prix attack
1.e6 french
Play d4. Don’t play advanced variation. You’ll get crushed. Play the exchange and develop normally
1.c6 caro-kann
Play d4. Don’t play advanced variation. Exchange and develop normally.
1.d5 scandinavian
Take the pawn, attack the queen, develop, play d4
If they play Nf6 instead of taking with the queen, give the pawn away with d4 and attack the knight with c4 once it recaptures. Develop.
Against any other option just take the center and develop.
I’ll write about black a bit later
Option 3 is clearly the best, the other 2 make zero sense. Studying anything else (chess-related) is much more reasonable than openings. Study endgames, or middlegame strategies, or tactics. Mostly tactics.
Sep 12, 2023
0
#7
Hi!
You might read my post on Opening Principles, check it out:
https://www.chess.com/blog/maafernan/instructive-games-i-opening-principles
Good luck!
Sep 12, 2023
0
#8
CoffeeWF написал:
Option 3 is the best for sure i can confidently say noone will play the best moves or theory in lower ratings so instead of openings knowing the principles is far more effective but if you play like e4 you have to know how to response aganist several openings like french caro kann scandinavian etc and you will be perfectly fine
That can be used to get advantage is your opponent doesn't know theory
Sep 12, 2023
0
#10
lassus_dinnao написал:
Then play e4 as white, e4 e5, d4 d5 as black.
Symmetrical openings give you easy-to play positions and easy-to-navigate middlegames. As you play these middlegames, you will see which play-style suits you the most. For example, the italian game. If you play Ng5, you are a tactitian. If you play d3, you are a positional player. I can give you some hints on how to play first moves.
White:
1.e4
Black plays:
1.e5
Try out all options: Nf3, bc4, nc3
From nf3, try out scotch(my main recommendation), italian, ponziani, spanish, four knights, halloween gambit, etc.
1.c5 Sicilian
Just learn the smith-morra or grand prix attack
1.e6 french
Play d4. Don’t play advanced variation. You’ll get crushed. Play the exchange and develop normally
1.c6 caro-kann
Play d4. Don’t play advanced variation. Exchange and develop normally.
1.d5 scandinavian
Take the pawn, attack the queen, develop, play d4
If they play Nf6 instead of taking with the queen, give the pawn away with d4 and attack the knight with c4 once it recaptures. Develop.
Against any other option just take the center and develop.
I’ll write about black a bit later
Symmetrical openings give you easy-to play positions and easy-to-navigate middlegames. As you play these middlegames, you will see which play-style suits you the most. For example, the italian game. If you play Ng5, you are a tactitian. If you play d3, you are a positional player. I can give you some hints on how to play first moves.
White:
1.e4
Black plays:
1.e5
Try out all options: Nf3, bc4, nc3
From nf3, try out scotch(my main recommendation), italian, ponziani, spanish, four knights, halloween gambit, etc.
1.c5 Sicilian
Just learn the smith-morra or grand prix attack
1.e6 french
Play d4. Don’t play advanced variation. You’ll get crushed. Play the exchange and develop normally
1.c6 caro-kann
Play d4. Don’t play advanced variation. Exchange and develop normally.
1.d5 scandinavian
Take the pawn, attack the queen, develop, play d4
If they play Nf6 instead of taking with the queen, give the pawn away with d4 and attack the knight with c4 once it recaptures. Develop.
Against any other option just take the center and develop.
I’ll write about black a bit later
Ok so as black try to be as positional as possible. Option 1: play something like this
You've gotten rid of any weaknesses you had and now you can safely develop your pieces.
option 2: play the "boring variations"
Got too imaginative here, but you got the point. Get as defensive as you can, allow white to attack first, then parry it. Against d4 play in similar way.
Against other openings just take the center with one pawn, solidify it and develop all of your pieces. Why play aggressive as white and calmly as black? To determine your play-style. If you start playing in this way, you will soon see that you prefer white more than black, or black more than white. Then you can build your openings around tactics or positional play. Again, base your play on these strategies and opening principles.
Sep 12, 2023
0
#11
yonkis1995 написал:
Hi everyone! I'm new to chess and I want to start learning openings. I have 3 options on how I can start doing this:
1) start to learn a lot of openings superficially (for example, from the book “Concise chess openings”), where the principle lines are presented in not too deep and a brief explanation of the idea is given
2) start learning an opening in more depth and detail (e.g. Open games). Example of a book “1. e4 e5”
3) don't study openings and play according to the opening principles
Pls help me to choose a better path, or a different path that you have been following. Thank you in advance!
1) start to learn a lot of openings superficially (for example, from the book “Concise chess openings”), where the principle lines are presented in not too deep and a brief explanation of the idea is given
2) start learning an opening in more depth and detail (e.g. Open games). Example of a book “1. e4 e5”
3) don't study openings and play according to the opening principles
Pls help me to choose a better path, or a different path that you have been following. Thank you in advance!
600 ELO. I dont believe it is necessary for you to learn opening theory in order to buff your ELO. id choose 3).
Imo all you need is to improve your pattern recognition and only then should you learn openings. Pattern recognition shows you which ideas succeed and which ones dont.
Chess Openings Resources for Beginners and Beyond…
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/openings-resources-for-beginners-and-beyond
https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell
Ok so as black try to be as positional as possible. Option 1: play something like this
Thank you for all your advice! Although, it's not really clear to me why we're afraid of the jump Ng5, so we can defend against the threat by developing.
I've looked at examples you presented, and I can say that almost with no doubt I favor more active game, not a positional one. I've also noticed that in your examples you are calmly going for piece exchanges. I usually try not to exchange active pieces (especially bishops) at the beginning of the game. Maybe it plays a cruel joke on me (few open lines, less freedom to develop and attack).
Badchesserrr4486999 написал:
yonkis1995 написал:
Hi everyone! I'm new to chess and I want to start learning openings. I have 3 options on how I can start doing this:
1) start to learn a lot of openings superficially (for example, from the book “Concise chess openings”), where the principle lines are presented in not too deep and a brief explanation of the idea is given
2) start learning an opening in more depth and detail (e.g. Open games). Example of a book “1. e4 e5”
3) don't study openings and play according to the opening principles
Pls help me to choose a better path, or a different path that you have been following. Thank you in advance!
1) start to learn a lot of openings superficially (for example, from the book “Concise chess openings”), where the principle lines are presented in not too deep and a brief explanation of the idea is given
2) start learning an opening in more depth and detail (e.g. Open games). Example of a book “1. e4 e5”
3) don't study openings and play according to the opening principles
Pls help me to choose a better path, or a different path that you have been following. Thank you in advance!
600 ELO. I dont believe it is necessary for you to learn opening theory in order to buff your ELO. id choose 3).
Imo all you need is to improve your pattern recognition and only then should you learn openings. Pattern recognition shows you which ideas succeed and which ones dont.
By pattern recognition, do you mean patterns to checkmate? Or the interaction of the pieces as well? As I understand it, this is developed in the process of puzzles solving? By this point I was mostly solving mate in 2 puzzles.
Sep 12, 2023
0
#15
yonkis1995 написал:
Badchesserrr4486999 написал:
yonkis1995 написал:
Hi everyone! I'm new to chess and I want to start learning openings. I have 3 options on how I can start doing this:
1) start to learn a lot of openings superficially (for example, from the book “Concise chess openings”), where the principle lines are presented in not too deep and a brief explanation of the idea is given
2) start learning an opening in more depth and detail (e.g. Open games). Example of a book “1. e4 e5”
3) don't study openings and play according to the opening principles
Pls help me to choose a better path, or a different path that you have been following. Thank you in advance!
1) start to learn a lot of openings superficially (for example, from the book “Concise chess openings”), where the principle lines are presented in not too deep and a brief explanation of the idea is given
2) start learning an opening in more depth and detail (e.g. Open games). Example of a book “1. e4 e5”
3) don't study openings and play according to the opening principles
Pls help me to choose a better path, or a different path that you have been following. Thank you in advance!
600 ELO. I dont believe it is necessary for you to learn opening theory in order to buff your ELO. id choose 3).
Imo all you need is to improve your pattern recognition and only then should you learn openings. Pattern recognition shows you which ideas succeed and which ones dont.
By pattern recognition, do you mean patterns to checkmate? Or the interaction of the pieces as well? As I understand it, this is developed in the process of puzzles solving? By this point I was mostly solving mate in 2 puzzles.
It is developped by looking at a game review.
Soo at the game review you saw that bxf7 was bad. You no longer play it! Eazy! You improved!
Sep 12, 2023
0
#16
Pattern recognition at your level is as simple as seeing that doing that move is bad.
yonkis1995 wrote:
Hi everyone! I'm new to chess and I want to start learning openings. I have 3 options on how I can start doing this:
1) start to learn a lot of openings superficially (for example, from the book “Concise chess openings”), where the principle lines are presented in not too deep and a brief explanation of the idea is given
2) start learning an opening in more depth and detail (e.g. Open games). Example of a book “1. e4 e5”
3) don't study openings and play according to the opening principles
Pls help me to choose a better path, or a different path that you have been following. Thank you in advance!
1) start to learn a lot of openings superficially (for example, from the book “Concise chess openings”), where the principle lines are presented in not too deep and a brief explanation of the idea is given
2) start learning an opening in more depth and detail (e.g. Open games). Example of a book “1. e4 e5”
3) don't study openings and play according to the opening principles
Pls help me to choose a better path, or a different path that you have been following. Thank you in advance!
I recommend chess maps for opening learning. These are rich opening tree posters, that feed you the most important lines quickly. Which of course reflect the opening principles, for obvious reasons
Sep 12, 2023
0
#18
I think chessable's short & sweet courses are amazing for learning a new opening! It's free, with text explanations (sometimes videos) to explain the moves.
Sep 12, 2023
0
#19
yonkis1995 написал:
Ok so as black try to be as positional as possible. Option 1: play something like this
Thank you for all your advice! Although, it's not really clear to me why we're afraid of the jump Ng5, so we can defend against the threat by developing.
I've looked at examples you presented, and I can say that almost with no doubt I favor more active game, not a positional one. I've also noticed that in your examples you are calmly going for piece exchanges. I usually try not to exchange active pieces (especially bishops) at the beginning of the game. Maybe it plays a cruel joke on me (few open lines, less freedom to develop and attack).
Ng5 is a commom newbie trap. You stop it just by playing the hungarian defence(or learning the fried liver theory)
Sep 12, 2023
0
#20
Hi!
I have written a post on Openings for Beginners , you might check it out:
https://www.chess.com/blog/maafernan/openings-for-beginners
Good luck!
1) start to learn a lot of openings superficially (for example, from the book “Concise chess openings”), where the principle lines are presented in not too deep and a brief explanation of the idea is given
2) start learning an opening in more depth and detail (e.g. Open games). Example of a book “1. e4 e5”
3) don't study openings and play according to the opening principles
Pls help me to choose a better path, or a different path that you have been following. Thank you in advance!